JP2020142381A - Printing device, printing system, method and program - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a hand-held type printing device that is suited for printing multiple images in succession.SOLUTION: A hand-held type printing device includes: storage means for storing multiple image data; and print execution means for printing the multiple image data one by one in succession. The print execution means prints one of the image data with single scanning and switches the image data of a printing object every time when single scanning is finished.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

The present invention relates to printing devices, printing systems, methods and programs.

Due to the miniaturization of notebook PCs and the rapid spread of smart devices such as smartphones, one of the major demands is the miniaturization of printers that can be easily carried.

In view of such demands, in recent years, a handheld printer has been proposed in which a paper transport system is deleted and ink is applied while being manually scanned (freehand scanning) on a flat surface such as a paper surface (for example). Patent Document 1).

As an application of such a handheld printer, for example, an application of printing serial numbers on a plurality of printing media can be considered, but conventional handheld printers are suitable for continuously printing a plurality of images. It didn't have a mechanism.

The present invention has been made in view of the above, and an object of the present invention is to provide a handheld printing apparatus suitable for printing a plurality of images continuously.

As a result of diligent studies on a handheld printing apparatus suitable for continuously printing a plurality of images, the present inventor has come up with the following configuration and arrived at the present invention.

That is, according to the present invention, the handheld printing apparatus includes a storage means for storing a plurality of image data and a print execution means for printing the plurality of image data one by one in order. An execution means is provided with a printing apparatus characterized in that one image data is printed by one scan and the image data to be printed is switched each time one scan is completed.

As described above, according to the present invention, there is provided a handheld printing apparatus suitable for continuously printing a plurality of images.

The figure which shows the printing system of 1st Embodiment. The figure which shows the appearance structure of the handheld printer of 1st Embodiment. The hardware block diagram of the handheld printer of 1st Embodiment. The hardware block diagram of the control part of the handheld printer of 1st Embodiment. The functional block diagram of the printing system of 1st Embodiment. The sequence diagram of the process executed by the printing system of 1st Embodiment. The flowchart of the process executed by the handheld printer of 1st Embodiment. The flowchart of the printing process executed by the handheld printer of 1st Embodiment. The figure which shows the print mode selection screen of the image data providing apparatus of 1st Embodiment. The figure which shows the serial number image generation condition input screen of the image data providing apparatus of 1st Embodiment. The figure which shows the print preview screen of the image data providing apparatus of 1st Embodiment. The figure which shows the guidance screen of the image data providing apparatus of 1st Embodiment. The figure which shows the print result screen of the image data providing apparatus of 1st Embodiment. The functional block diagram of the printing system of 2nd Embodiment. The sequence diagram of the process executed by the printing system of 2nd Embodiment. The flowchart of the process executed by the handheld printer of the 2nd Embodiment.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described with reference to embodiments, but the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described later. In each of the figures referred to below, the same reference numerals are used for common elements, and the description thereof will be omitted as appropriate.

(First Embodiment)
FIG. 1 shows a printing system 1000 according to a first embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the printing system 1000 includes a handheld printer 10 and an image data providing device 60.

The handheld printer 10 is a handheld printing apparatus, and adopts an inkjet method as a printing method. The user can form an arbitrary image on the print medium 70 by holding the handheld printer 10 in his hand and freely moving the handheld printer 10 on the print medium 70. The printing method of the handheld printer 10 is not limited to the inkjet method, and other printing methods such as the dot impact method may be adopted in other embodiments.

The image data providing device 60 is an information processing device that provides image data to be printed to the handheld printer 10, and examples thereof include smartphones, tablet terminals, and notebook PCs. In the following, the case where the image data providing device 60 is a smartphone will be described as an example, and this will be referred to as a smartphone 60.

Both the handheld printer 10 and the smartphone 60 are equipped with wireless communication functions compliant with predetermined wireless standards such as infrared communication, Bluetooth (registered trademark), and Wi-Fi (registered trademark), and both are equipped with wireless communication. Send and receive necessary information via. However, this embodiment does not exclude both parties from transmitting and receiving information via wired communication.

The configuration of the printing system 1000 of the present embodiment has been outlined above. Next, the appearance configuration of the handheld printer 10 of the present embodiment will be described.

FIG. 2A shows a perspective view of the handheld printer 10, and FIG. 2B shows a bottom view of the handheld printer 10. As shown in FIG. 2A, the handheld printer 10 has a substantially rectangular parallelepiped housing, and a power button 12, an LED lamp 13, and a printing start button 14 are provided on the upper surface of the housing. Has been printed. On the other hand, guide rollers 15a and 15b, a navigation sensor 21, and a recording head unit 26 are provided on the bottom surface facing the print medium when printing is executed, and a gyro sensor (described later) (not shown) is provided inside the housing. ) Is installed.

The navigation sensor 21 is a means for detecting the amount of movement of the handheld printer 10 by a mechanism similar to that of an optical mouse. The navigation sensor 21 irradiates the opposite print medium with light, photographs the reflected light, and calculates the amount of movement of the handheld printer 10 based on the difference in the acquired image data. The amount of movement of the handheld printer 10 referred to here is, more accurately, a two-dimensional Cartesian coordinate system in which the width direction of the bottom surface of the handheld printer 10 is the X-axis direction and the longitudinal direction thereof is the Y-axis direction. Hereinafter, it means the amount of movement (ΔX, ΔY) of the position of the navigation sensor 21 in the printer coordinate system).

The recording head unit 26 includes a recording head having a plurality of nozzles (ejection means) as a recording unit, and forms a printed image on a printing medium on which droplets of ink ejected from each nozzle face each other.

The guide rollers 15a and 15b are means for smoothly scanning on the print medium, and at the same time, they are spacers for securing a gap necessary for printing between the nozzle of the recording head and the print medium. Functions as.

The appearance configuration of the handheld printer 10 of the present embodiment has been described above, but subsequently, the hardware configuration of the handheld printer 10 will be described with reference to FIG.

As shown in FIG. 3, in addition to the navigation sensor 21 and the recording head unit 26 described above, the handheld printer 10 has a power supply 16, a power supply circuit 17, a memory 18, a control unit 20, and a gyro in its housing. A sensor 22, an operation unit (OPU) 24, a recording head drive circuit 27, and a data communication I / F 28 are mounted.

The power source 16 is a power source for supplying electric power used by the handheld printer 10, and is, for example, a secondary battery such as a battery. The power supply circuit 17 is a circuit that controls the power supply to each unit of the handheld printer 10.

The memory 18 is a storage device composed of a ROM or a DRAM. The ROM stores a program for controlling the hardware of the handheld printer 10, drive waveform data for driving the recording head, and initial setting information data. The DRAM provides a program execution space, and various data such as image data and drive waveform data are temporarily stored.

The control unit 20 is a means for performing overall control of the handheld printer 10, and details thereof will be described later.

The gyro sensor 22 is a means for detecting the rotation angle of the handheld printer 10. The rotation angle of the handheld printer 10 referred to here means a rotation angle (Δθ) about an axis orthogonal to the printer coordinate system (planar coordinate system).

The OPU 24 is a means for accepting a user's operation and notifying the user of the state of the handheld printer 10, and in the present embodiment, the power button 12, the print start button 14, and the LED lamp 13 correspond to the means.

The recording head drive circuit 27 is a means for controlling the recording head included in the recording head unit 26.

The data communication I / F 28 is a data communication I / F conforming to a predetermined wireless standard, and the handheld printer 10 transmits / receives data to / from the smartphone 60 via the data communication I / F 28.

The hardware configuration of the handheld printer 10 of the present embodiment has been described above. Next, the hardware configuration of the control unit 20 of the handheld printer 10 will be described with reference to FIG.

The control unit 20 includes a SoC40 and an ASIC / FPGA 50. The SoC 40 includes a CPU 41, a memory controller 42, and a position calculation circuit 43, which perform data communication via the bus 45.

The CPU 41 is a means for controlling the entire handheld printer 10. The memory controller 42 is a means for controlling the memory 18.

The position calculation circuit 43 calculates the position coordinates of the navigation sensor 21 by using the movement amount (ΔX, ΔY) detected by the navigation sensor 21 and the rotation angle (Δθ) of the handheld printer 10 detected by the gyro sensor 22. This is a means for calculating the position coordinates of each nozzle of the recording head based on the calculated position coordinates of the navigation sensor 21.

The ASIC / FPGA 50 includes a navigation sensor I / F51, a gyro sensor I / F52, a timing generation circuit 53, a recording head control circuit 54, an image RAM 55, a DMAC (Direct Memory Access Controller) 56, a rotor 57, and the like. It includes an interrupt circuit 58, which performs data communication via the bus 59. The bus 59 is connected to the bus 45 so that the SoC 40 and the ASIC / FPGA 50 can perform data communication with each other.

The timing generation circuit 53 includes a timing at which the navigation sensor I / F 51 reads the output value (ΔX, ΔY) of the navigation sensor 21, a timing at which the gyro sensor I / F 52 reads the output value (Δθ) of the gyro sensor 22, and a recording head. Is a means for generating timings for ejecting droplets and notifying the navigation sensor I / F51, the gyro sensor I / F52, and the recording head control circuit 54 of these timings.

The navigation sensor I / F 51 is a means for performing data communication with the navigation sensor 21.

The gyro sensor I / F 52 is a means for performing data communication with the gyro sensor 22.

Based on the nozzle position coordinates calculated by the position calculation circuit 43, the DMAC 56 reads the image data to be formed by ejecting droplets from each nozzle from the memory 18 via the memory controller 42 and stores the image data in the image RAM 55. ..

The image RAM 55 is a storage device that temporarily stores the image data read by the DMAC 56.

The rotator 57 is a means for rotating the image data to be printed according to the head position and head inclination of the handheld printer 10. The rotator 57 acquires image data from the image RAM 55, rotates the image data according to the head position and head tilt of the handheld printer 10, and determines the predetermined conditions (hereinafter, “discharge conditions”) necessary for discharging the image data. When the condition is satisfied, the image data is transmitted to the recording head control circuit 54.

The recording head control circuit 54 is a means for controlling the recording head drive circuit 27 to control the discharge operation of the recording head. The recording head control circuit 54 transmits a control signal for controlling the ejection operation of the recording head and image data to be printed to the recording head drive circuit 27 at a timing designated by the timing generation circuit 53.

The interrupt circuit 58 is a means for transmitting an interrupt signal to the SoC 40. The interrupt circuit 58 transmits an interrupt signal for notifying that the navigation sensor I / F 51 has terminated communication with the navigation sensor 21 and an interrupt signal for notifying status information such as an error to the SoC 40.

The hardware configuration of the control unit 20 of the handheld printer 10 has been described above. Next, the functional configurations of the smartphone 60 and the handheld printer 10 will be described based on the functional block diagram shown in FIG.

The smartphone 60 includes a UI unit 101, a serial number information generation unit 102, a serial number image data generation unit 103, and a serial number image data transmission unit 104. In this embodiment, a dedicated application program (hereinafter referred to as a dedicated application) is installed in the computer mounted on the smartphone 60, and when the computer executes the dedicated application, it functions as each means described later. To do.

The UI unit 101 is a means for displaying various UI screens on the display of the smartphone 60.

The serial number information generation unit 102 is a means for generating serial number information (described later) including a serial number in response to a user input via a UI screen.

The serial number image data generation unit 103 is a means for generating serial number image data representing serial number information.

The serial number image data transmission unit 104 is a means for transmitting the serial number image data to the handheld printer 10.

The handheld printer 10 includes a serial number image data storage unit 106, a print execution unit 107, a scanning operation end determination unit 108, a print success / failure determination unit 109, a notification unit 110, and a storage area 112. .. In the present embodiment, the control unit 20 (CPU 41) of the handheld printer 10 functions as each means described later by executing a predetermined program.

The serial number image data storage unit 106 is a means for storing the serial number image data received from the smartphone 60 in the storage area 112.

The print execution unit 107 is a means for executing printing of serial number image data.

The scanning operation end determination unit 108 is a means for determining the end of the scanning operation by the user.

The print success / failure determination unit 109 is a means for determining the success / failure of printing of each serial number image data to be printed.

The notification unit 110 is a means for giving various notifications to the smartphone 60.

The functional configurations of the smartphone 60 and the handheld printer 10 have been described above, but subsequently, the contents of the processing executed by the printing system 1000 of the present embodiment will be described.

Here, before starting the explanation of the process, the meanings of the terms used below will be explained.

In the present embodiment, the "serial number" means a series of numerical values that are incremented or decremented according to a predetermined rule. In this embodiment, the decimal number incrementing by 1 is treated as a "serial number", but in other embodiments, the decimal number incrementing by N (N is a natural number of 2 or more) is treated as a "serial number". , Or other notational numbers such as binary and hexadecimal numbers may be treated as "serial numbers".

In the present embodiment, the "fixed character" means an arbitrary character or character string to be added to the "serial number", and one or more characters selected from alphabetic characters, hiragana, katakana, kanji, numbers, and various symbols. It is composed of elements.

In the present embodiment, the "serial number information" means text information including at least "serial number". The "serial number information" of the present embodiment consists of a combination of "fixed characters" and "serial numbers", but does not necessarily include "fixed characters" and is arbitrary other than "fixed characters". Information may be included.

In the present embodiment, the "serial number image data" means image data representing "serial number information". The image data representing the "serial number information" referred to here is specifically a text image representing the "serial number information" or a code pattern in which the "serial number information" is encoded. The present embodiment does not limit the format of the code pattern, and may be a one-dimensional code represented by a barcode, or may be represented by a QR code (registered trademark; the same shall apply hereinafter). It may be a two-dimensional code such as

Since the meanings of the terms have been described above, a series of processes until the serial number image data is ready for printing will be subsequently described with reference to the sequence diagram shown in FIG. 6A. In the following, a case where a QR code is adopted as a code pattern format for encoding "serial number information" will be described as an example.

When the user operates the smartphone 60 to activate the dedicated application, the UI unit 101 displays the print mode selection screen. FIG. 9 shows a print mode selection screen 500 displayed by the UI unit 101. In the present embodiment, two modes, "text mode" and "QR code mode", are prepared as serial number printing modes, and the print mode selection screen 500 corresponds to each mode, "text" and "text". Two buttons called "QR code" are displayed in a selectable manner.

In response to the display of the print mode selection screen 500, when the user taps either the "text" or "QR code" button to select the print mode (S1), the UI unit 101 displays the serial number image. Display the serial number image generation condition input screen for inputting the conditions for generating data. In response to this, the user inputs the serial number image generation condition by the following procedure via the displayed serial number image generation condition input screen (S2).

When the user selects "text" as the print mode, the serial number image generation condition input screen 600 shown in FIG. 10A is displayed. As shown in FIG. 10A, the serial number image generation condition input screen 600 has a field 602 for inputting fixed characters, a field 603 for setting a serial number range, and a serial number format. Field 604 for selection is displayed.

In the present embodiment, when the user taps the field 602, a software keyboard (not shown) is launched on the screen, and the user inputs a font, size, style, etc. via the software keyboard. After specifying it arbitrarily, enter an arbitrary fixed character in the field 602.

When the user taps the field 603, a software keyboard is also launched on the screen, and the user inputs the minimum value of the serial number and the maximum value of the serial number in the field 603 via the software keyboard.

Further, the user taps and selects one of the two buttons "Num" and "Num / Max" displayed in the field 604. When the user selects "Num", a format representing only the serial number is set as the serial number format. On the other hand, when the user selects "Num / Max", a format is set as the serial number format, which represents a fraction having the numerical value of the serial number as the numerator and the maximum value of the serial number as the denominator. The "Num / Max" format is suitable, for example, when it is desired to express the number of individual packages (corresponding to the maximum value of serial numbers).

On the other hand, when the user selects "QR code" as the print mode, the serial number image generation condition input screen 650 shown in FIG. 10B is displayed. As shown in FIG. 10B, in the serial number image generation condition input screen 650, a field 602 for inputting fixed characters and a range of serial numbers are set as in the serial number image generation condition input screen 600. A field 603 for selecting a serial number format and a field 604 for selecting a serial number format are displayed. The user inputs an arbitrary fixed character in the field 602 and serially numbers the field 603 in the same procedure as described above. Enter the minimum and maximum values of, and tap one of the two buttons "Num" and "Num / Max" displayed in the field 604 to select the serial number format.

In addition, since the field 652 for selecting the error correction level of the QR code is displayed on the serial number image generation condition input screen 650, the user can use the four buttons "H" and "H" displayed in the field 652. Tap any of "Q", "M", and "L" to select the error correction level.

After the user finishes inputting the serial number image generation condition in the above procedure, the serial number information generation unit 102 receives a tap on the "OK" button on the serial number image generation condition input screen 600 or 650. Serial number information is generated based on the input serial number image generation condition (S3).

For example, when there is an input as shown in FIG. 10A, the serial number information generation unit 102 has 1 in the range from the minimum value "1" to the maximum value "100" input in the field 603. After generating 100 serial numbers that are incremented by each, the fixed character "ABCD" entered in the field 602 is combined with the beginning of each serial number. As a result, 100 character strings in which serial numbers (1 to 100) are combined at the rear end of the fixed character "ABCD" are generated as serial number information.

On the other hand, when there is an input as shown in FIG. 10B, the serial number information generation unit 102 has 1 in the range from the minimum value "1" to the maximum value "100" input in the field 603. After generating 100 serial numbers that are incremented by each, this is converted into a fraction with the numerical value of each serial number as the numerator and "100" as the denominator. Then, the fixed character "ABCD" entered in the field 602 is combined at the beginning of each fraction. As a result, 100 character strings in which a serial number (1/100 to 100/100) of a fractional expression is combined with the rear end of the fixed character "ABCD" are generated as serial number information.

Subsequently, the serial number image data generation unit 103 generates serial number image data based on the serial number information generated in S3 (S4). For example, when "text" is selected as the print mode, the serial number information generated in S3 is generated as the serial number image data in a text image represented by the specified font, size, style, and the like. On the other hand, when "QR code" is selected as the print mode, the serial number information generated in S3 is encoded at the error correction level selected in the field 652 of the serial number image generation condition input screen 650. Generate a QR code as serial number image data.

If the size of the serial number image data generated in S4 does not fit within the size that can be printed in one scanning operation, the UI unit 101 notifies the user to that effect. For example, when the number of fixed characters is large or the error correction level is set high, the size of the text image or QR code (width in the orthogonal direction of the scanning direction) is the size of the recording head of the handheld printer 10 (recording head). The length in the direction orthogonal to the scanning direction) may be exceeded. In such a case, the UI unit 101 displays the dialog screen 654 shown in FIG. 10 (c), notifies the user that the image size is too large to print in one scanning operation, and serial number images. Prompt to correct the data.

In response to the serial number image data being generated in S4, the UI unit 101 displays the print preview screen. FIG. 11A shows a print preview screen 700 when "text" is selected as the print mode and "Num" is selected as the serial number format, and FIG. 11B shows "text" as the print mode. Is selected, and the print preview screen 700 is shown when "Num / Max" is selected as the serial number format. As shown in FIGS. 11A and 11B, 100 text images representing serial number information are listed on the print preview screen 700 so that all of them can be browsed by scrolling.

On the other hand, FIG. 11C shows a print preview screen 750 when "QR code" is selected as the print mode and "Num / Max" is selected as the serial number format. As shown in FIG. 11C, 100 QR codes obtained by encoding serial number information are listed on the print preview screen 750 so that all of them can be browsed by scrolling.

After that, when the user taps the "print" button on the print preview screen (700,750) (S5), the serial number image data transmission unit 104 receives the serial number image data generated in S4 by the handheld printer. It is transmitted to 10 (S6).

The series of processes until the serial number image data is ready for printing have been described above. Subsequently, the contents of the processes executed by the handheld printer 10 will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

When the user presses the power button 12 of the handheld printer 10, the handheld printer 10 initializes each device mounted on the handheld printer 10 (step S101).

After that, the handheld printer 10 waits for the serial number image data transmitted from the smartphone 60 (step S102, No), and when the serial number image data is received (step S102, Yes), the serial number image data storage unit 106 The serial number image data received from the smartphone 60 is sorted in a predetermined order and stored in the storage area 112 (step S103). The order of sorting the serial number image data may be the ascending order of the serial numbers or the descending order.

After that, the handheld printer 10 waits for the print start button 14 to be pressed (step S104, No), and when the print start button 14 is pressed (step S104, Yes), the navigation sensor 21 and the gyro sensor 22 respectively. The control unit 20 starts the printing process while starting the detection of the movement amount (ΔX, ΔY) and the rotation angle (Δθ) (step S105).

Hereinafter, the content of the printing process executed in the previous step S105 will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

First, in step 201, the CPU 41 of the SoC 40 calculates the initial position of the navigation sensor 21 based on the position coordinates of the navigation sensor 21 at the time when the print start button 14 is pressed, and stores the initial position in the memory 18. At this time, the CPU 41 notifies the navigation sensor I / F 51 to acquire the movement amount (ΔX, ΔY) from the navigation sensor 21, and notifies the gyro sensor I / F 52 to acquire the rotation angle (Δθ) from the gyro sensor 22. To do

In the following step 202, the notification unit 110 notifies the smartphone 60 of the start of printing.

In the following step 203, the print execution unit 107 selects one serial number image data to be printed next according to a predetermined order from the plurality of serial number image data stored in the storage area 112 (in this case, in order). Read the serial number image data located at the beginning).

In the following step 204, the timing generation circuit 53 of the ASIC / FPGA 50 measures the time by the counter, and the navigation sensor I / F51 and the gyro sensor I / F52 arrive at the read timing to the navigation sensor 21 and the gyro sensor 22, respectively. (Step S205, No), and when the set sensor read timing arrives (Step S205, Yes), the movement amount (ΔX, ΔY) and the rotation angle (ΔX, ΔY) and the rotation angle (ΔX, ΔY), respectively, from the internal memories of the navigation sensor 21 and the gyro sensor 22 Δθ) (step S206).

The CPU 41 of the SoC40 reads the movement amount (ΔX, ΔY) and the rotation angle (Δθ) from the navigation sensor I / F51 and the gyro sensor I / F52 of the ASIC / FPGA 50, respectively, and is stored in the memory 18. The current position coordinates of the navigation sensor 21 are calculated based on the nearest position coordinates of 21 (in this case, ( _XS , Y _S )), the movement amount (ΔX, ΔY) read in step S206, and the rotation angle (Δθ). Then, it is stored in the memory 18 (step S207).

The CPU 41 of the SoC 40 transmits the calculated position coordinates of the current navigation sensor 21 to the ASIC / FPGA 50. In response to this, the rotator 57 of the ASIC / FPGA 50 calculates the position coordinates of each nozzle of the recording head from the positional relationship between the navigation sensor 21 and the recording head unit 26 (step S208).

The DRAM 56 of the ASIC / FPGA 50 is a part of the image data constituting the serial number image data read in the previous step S203 based on the position information of each nozzle calculated in the step S208, and is the image data around each nozzle. Is read from the memory 18 (DRAM) and transferred to the image RAM 55 (step S209).

In response to this, the rotor 57 rotates the image data stored in the image RAM 55 according to the head position and head tilt specified by the CPU 41 at the time of initialization, and obtains the rotated image data and the coordinates of the position of each nozzle. Comparison (step S210) is performed, and it is determined whether or not the discharge condition is satisfied (step S211).

If the ejection condition is not satisfied (step S211, No), the process returns to step S205, and if the ejection condition is satisfied (step S211, Yes), the rotor 57 transfers the image data to the recording head control circuit 54. (Step S212). In response to this, the recording head control circuit 54 controls the recording head drive circuit 27 to eject ink from the nozzle of the recording head onto the print medium.

In the following step S213, the scanning operation end determination unit 108 determines whether or not the user's scanning operation has been completed by an appropriate method. In the present embodiment, the user who has finished the scanning operation can lift the handheld printer 10 to perform the determination by the following method.

The first method is a method of determining the end of the scanning operation based on the change in the posture of the handheld printer 10 by paying attention to the change in the posture of the handheld printer 10 when the user lifts the handheld printer 10. The change in the posture of the handheld printer 10 can be determined based on the angular velocity detected by the gyro sensor 22. The second method focuses on the fact that when the user lifts the handheld printer 10, the bottom surface of the handheld printer 10 is separated from the print medium, and the scanning operation is performed based on the distance between the bottom surface of the handheld printer 10 and the print medium. This is a method of determining the end. The above-mentioned separation distance can be determined based on the intensity of the reflected light detected by the navigation sensor 21.

In step S213, steps S205 to S212 described above are repeated until the scanning operation end determination unit 108 determines the end of the scanning operation (steps S213, No), and when the end of the scanning operation is determined (step S213, step S213, Yes), the process proceeds to step S214.

In the following step S214, the print success / failure determination unit 109 determines the print success / failure of the serial number image data of 1 read in the previous step S203. Specifically, when printing is completed for all the areas of the serial number image data of 1 read in the previous step S203, it is determined that the printing is successful, and when the area where the printing is not finished remains. Determines printing failure. For example, if the timing of lifting the handheld printer 10 is too early, a print failure is determined in step S214.

Finally, in step S215, the notification unit 110 notifies the smartphone 60 of the print success / failure determination result (print success / print failure) made in the previous step S214.

The explanation will be continued by returning to FIG.

When the printing process of step S105 is completed, it is determined in the following step S106 whether or not the printing of all the serial number image data stored in the storage area 112 is completed. As a result, if unprinted serial number image data remains (step S107, No), the process returns to step S104, and thereafter, printing of all serial number image data stored in the storage area 112 is completed. The process of steps S104 to S106 is repeated until the above.

On the other hand, when the printing of all the serial number image data stored in the storage area 112 is completed (step S106, Yes), in the following step S107, it is determined whether or not the power of the handheld printer 10 is turned off. .. As a result, when the power of the handheld printer 10 is ON (step S107, No), the process returns to step S102. After that, the processes of steps S102 to S107 are repeated until the power is turned off, and when the power is turned off (steps S107, Yes), all the processes are completed.

The process executed by the handheld printer 10 has been described above, but subsequently, the process executed on the smartphone 60 side when printing the serial number image data will be described based on the sequence diagram shown in FIG. 6B.

In the present embodiment, when printing the serial number image data, the following processing is repeatedly executed on the smartphone 60 side. That is, when the user presses the print start button 14 of the handheld printer 10 (S1), the handheld printer 10 notifies the smartphone 60 of the start of printing (S2). In response to this, the UI unit 101 of the smartphone 60 displays the guidance screen shown in FIG. 12 (S3).

FIG. 12A shows a guidance screen 800 when "text" is selected as the print mode. As shown in FIG. 12A, a preview of the text image currently being printed is displayed on the guidance screen 800. On the other hand, FIG. 12B shows a guidance screen 850 when "QR code" is selected as the print mode. As shown in FIG. 12B, the QR code currently being printed is preview-displayed on the guidance screen 850.

After that, when the user finishes the scanning operation of the handheld printer 10 (S4), the handheld printer 10 notifies the smartphone 60 of the success or failure of printing (S5). In response to this, the smartphone 60 generates a print result screen based on the notified print success / failure and displays it (S6).

FIG. 13 shows a print result screen when "text" is selected as the print mode. FIG. 13A shows a print result screen 900 when all the serial number image data are successfully printed. As shown in FIG. 13A, a message indicating that printing was successful is displayed on the print result screen 900. On the other hand, FIG. 13B shows a print result screen 950 when printing of some serial number image data fails. As shown in FIG. 13B, a "reprint" button is displayed on the print result screen 950 together with a list of serial number image data that failed to be printed. In response to this, when the user taps the "reprint" button, the smartphone 60 retransmits the serial number image data that failed to print to the handheld printer 10.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, one serial number image data is printed by one scanning operation, and the serial number image data to be printed is automatically printed every time one scanning operation is completed. Since it is switched to, the user does not need to be aware of the serial number switching, and the serial number can be printed efficiently without stress.

Further, according to the present embodiment, a plurality of serial number image data are automatically generated according to the specified conditions, so that even in a case where a large number of serial numbers must be printed. It takes almost no effort to create data.

The handheld printer 10 of the present embodiment has a wide range of uses related to serial numbers, such as printing serial numbers on corrugated cardboard of moving luggage and printing serial numbers on handouts such as test question papers and conference materials. There is expected.

The first embodiment of the present invention has been described above, but then the second embodiment of the present invention will be described. In the following, the description of the parts common to the contents of the first embodiment will be omitted, and only the differences from the first embodiment will be described.

(Second Embodiment)
FIG. 14 shows a functional block diagram of the printing system 1000b of the second embodiment. Hereinafter, the functional configurations of the smartphone 60b and the handheld printer 10b of the second embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

The smartphone 60b includes a UI unit 101 and a serial number image generation condition transmission unit 105.

The UI unit 101 is a means having the same function as the UI unit 101 included in the smartphone 60b of the first embodiment.

The serial number image generation condition transmission unit 105 is a means for transmitting the serial number image generation condition received by the UI unit 101 to the handheld printer 10b.

The handheld printer 10b includes a serial number information generation unit 102, a serial number image data generation unit 103, a print execution unit 107, a scanning operation end determination unit 108, a print success / failure determination unit 109, a notification unit 110, and a storage area. It is configured to include 112 and.

Here, the serial number information generation unit 102 and the serial number image data generation unit 103 are means having the same functions as those provided in the smartphone 60b of the first embodiment. Further, the print execution unit 107, the scanning operation end determination unit 108, the print success / failure determination unit 109, the notification unit 110, and the storage area 112 are means having the same functions as those of the handheld printer 10 of the first embodiment, respectively. ..

Subsequently, a series of processes until the serial number image data is ready for printing will be described with reference to the sequence diagram shown in FIG.

When the user operates the smartphone 60b to activate the dedicated application, the UI unit 101 displays the print mode selection screen 500 shown in FIG. In response to this, when the user taps either the "text" or "QR code" button to select the print mode (S1), the UI unit 101 displays the serial number image generation condition input screen (S1) shown in FIG. 600,650) is displayed. In response to this, the user inputs the serial number image generation condition in the same procedure as described in the first embodiment (S2).

After the user finishes inputting the serial number image generation condition, the user taps the "OK" button on the serial number image generation condition input screen (600,650) (S3), and the serial number image generation condition transmission unit 105 transmits the input serial number image generation condition to the handheld printer 10b (S4). When "text" is selected as the print mode in addition to the selected print mode, fixed characters, minimum and maximum values of the serial number, and serial number format as the serial number image generation conditions transmitted in S4. Includes the font, size, style, etc. of the specified text, and includes the selected error correction level when "QR Code" is selected as the print mode.

The series of processes until the serial number image data is ready for printing have been described above. Subsequently, the contents of the processes executed by the handheld printer 10b will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

When the user presses the power button 12 of the handheld printer 10b, the handheld printer 10b initializes each device to be mounted (step S301).

After that, the handheld printer 10b waits for the serial number image generation condition transmitted from the smartphone 60b (step S302, No), and when it receives the serial number image generation condition (step S102, Yes), the process proceeds to step S303.

In the following step S303, the serial number information generation unit 102 generates serial number information in the same procedure as described in the first embodiment based on the serial number image generation condition received in the previous step S302, and serializes the serial number information. The serial number image data generation unit 103 generates serial number image data in the same procedure as described in the first embodiment based on the received serial number image generation condition and the generated serial number information. Then, the serial number information generation unit 102 sorts the generated serial number image data in a predetermined order and stores it in the storage area 112.

After that, the processes after step S304 are executed. The processing contents of step S304, step S305, step S306, and step S307 are the same as those of step S104, step S105, step S106, and step S107 of the first embodiment described with reference to FIG. 7, and thus the description thereof will be omitted. To do.

As described above, in the present embodiment, since the serial number image data is generated on the handheld printer 10b side, there is an advantage that the load on the network is reduced because the transfer of the serial number image data becomes unnecessary.

Although the present invention has been described above with embodiments, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various design changes are possible.

For example, in the above-described embodiment, when the size of the generated serial number image data is too large to print in one scanning operation, the mode of notifying the user to that effect has been described, but in other embodiments, the mode is described. In such a case, the size of the generated serial number image data may be automatically corrected to a size that can be printed by one scanning operation.

Further, in another embodiment, a format other than the above-mentioned two serial number formats (“Num” and “Num / Max”) may be specified, and a serial number generation rule (serial number notation) may be specified. Numeral system, increment / fraction, etc.) may be specified by the user.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the mode of printing one serial number image data by one scanning operation has been described, but in other embodiments, n times (n is) so as to correspond to a large-sized image. It may be configured to print 1 serial number image data by a scanning operation (an integer of 2 or more). In that case, the end of the scanning operation may be determined n times in succession, and the image data may be switched to the next serial number image data in response to the end determination of n times.

The above-mentioned contents are examples of design changes, and other embodiments that can be inferred by those skilled in the art, which exert the actions and effects of the present invention, are included in the scope of the present invention.

In addition, each function of the above-described embodiment can be described as a program that can be executed by a computer in an appropriate programming language, and the program can be stored and distributed in any recording medium, and can be distributed on a network. Can be transmitted via.

10 ... Handheld printer 12 ... Power button 13 ... LED lamp 14 ... Printing start buttons 15a, 15b ... Guide roller 16 ... Power supply 17 ... Power supply circuit 18 ... Memory 20 ... Control unit 21 ... Navigation sensor 22 ... Gyro sensor 24 ... OPU
26 ... Recording head unit 27 ... Recording head drive circuit 28 ... Data communication I / F
40 ... SoC
41 ... CPU
42 ... Memory controller 43 ... Position calculation circuit 45 ... Bus 50 ... ASIC / FPGA
51 ... Navigation sensor I / F
52 ... Gyro sensor I / F
53 ... Timing generation circuit 54 ... Recording head control circuit 55 ... Image RAM
56 ... DMAC
57 ... Rotator 58 ... Interrupt circuit 59 ... Bus 60 ... Image data providing device (smartphone)
70 ... Print medium 101 ... UI unit 102 ... Serial number information generation unit 103 ... Serial number image data generation unit 104 ... Serial number image data transmission unit 105 ... Serial number image generation condition transmission unit 106 ... Serial number image data storage unit 107 ... Print execution unit 108 ... Scanning operation end determination unit 109 ... Print success / failure determination unit 110 ... Notification unit 112 ... Storage area 500 ... Print mode selection screen 600, 650 ... Serial number image generation condition input screen 654 ... Dialog screen 700, 750 ... Printing Preview screen 800, 850 ... Guidance screen 900, 950 ... Print result screen 1000 ... Printing system

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2016-215472

Claims (12)

It is a handheld printing device.
A storage means for storing multiple image data and
A printing execution means for printing the plurality of image data one by one in order is included.
The printing execution means is
It is characterized in that one image data is printed by one scanning and the image data to be printed is switched every time one scanning is completed.
Printing device. As the plurality of image data, a serial number image data generation means for automatically generating image data representing serial number information including the serial number is included.
The printing apparatus according to claim 1. Each of the image data is a text image representing serial number information including a serial number.
The printing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2. Each of the image data is a code pattern in which serial number information including serial numbers is encoded.
The printing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2. Includes a serial number information generation means that automatically generates serial number information including serial numbers based on the specified minimum and maximum values.
The printing apparatus according to claim 2. The serial number information generation means
Generates the serial number based on the specified format,
The printing apparatus according to claim 5. The serial number information generation means
Generate the serial number according to the specified rules,
The printing apparatus according to claim 5 or 6. When the image data to be printed cannot be printed in one scan, a notification to that effect is given.
The printing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 7. It is a handheld printing device.
A storage means for storing multiple image data and
A printing execution means for printing the plurality of image data one by one in order is included.
The printing execution means is
The image data of 1 is printed by scanning n times (n is an integer of 2 or more; the same applies hereinafter), and the image data to be printed is switched after each scanning of n times.
Printing device. A printing system including a handheld printing device and an image data providing device that provides a plurality of image data to the printing device.
The image data providing device is
As the plurality of image data, a serial number image data generation means for automatically generating image data representing serial number information including a serial number, and
Including means for transmitting the plurality of generated image data to the printing apparatus.
The printing device is
A storage means for storing the plurality of image data received from the image data providing device, and
A printing execution means for printing the plurality of image data one by one in order is included.
The printing execution means is
It is characterized in that one image data is printed by one scanning and the image data to be printed is switched every time one scanning is completed.
Printing system. A method of printing multiple image data using a handheld printing device.
The step of automatically generating the plurality of image data and
A step of storing the generated plurality of image data and
Including the step of printing the plurality of image data one by one in order.
The printing step is
It is characterized by including a step of printing one image data by one scanning and switching the image data to be printed after each scanning.
Method. A computer that controls a handheld printing device,
A storage means for storing multiple image data,
A printing execution means for printing the plurality of image data one by one in order.
It is a program to make it work
The printing execution means is
It is characterized in that one image data is printed by one scanning and the image data to be printed is switched every time one scanning is completed.
program.